Zazu/Main article
Zazu is a red-billed Hornbill, son of Zuzu, and the majordomo of Mufasa in The Lion King, and then of Simba in The Lion King II: Simba's Pride. Physical Attributes: Zazu's feathers a light blue, tipped with a darker, navy-blue and a beak in varying shades of orange. His eyebrows are black, thick and scruffy. Personality: As majordomo to King Mufasa, his proper, dignified, nervous, and easily-rattled personality is the polar opposite in temperament of Simba and Nala. He tends to panic during emergencies, such as the wildebeest stampede. As a youngster, Zazu was incompetent, talkative nuisance, but soon learns to distinguish between what's real news and what's not, though he's not above some juicy gossip. Despite his size, he's rather snobby and looks down on lowlifes, and is not afraid to use his dry, biting wit, and is a very loyal friend and servant to the royal family. Information Backstory According to the children's book, The Lion King: Six New Adventures, in the story, "A Tale of Two Brothers", Zazu's mother, Zuzu, is asked by King Ahadi if she would take the position of advising the king. Zuzu is honored and immediately accepts his offer making her family serve as stewards to the Lion Kings of the Pride Lands. Finally, when Zazu was young, Zuzu trains him to take her place when Mufasa's rule began. However, this is openly contradicted by the book, Friends in Need, in which a young Mufasa saves a young Zazu who is about to be cooked and eaten by Shenzi, Banzai and Ed. Zazu is thankful and hopes that he can be of service to the Lion King someday to which Mufasa is doubtful of. However, one day Zazu notices some vultures hovering and sees that Sarabi has fallen into a pit and can't get out. Zazu flies back to tell Mufasa who leaps up and runs to the gorge. Mufasa can't find a way to rescue Sarabi so Zazu finds a tree trunk that Mufasa drags over to the pit allowing Sarabi to climb out. Mufasa sees that the little hornbill is useful after all and appoints him to be his royal advisor. ''The Lion King: Zazu is first seen flying over the animals heading towards Pride Rock to see the newborn Simba, and bows before Mufasa when he lands on Pride Rock. He is next seen telling Scar about playing with his "food" he has caught. He also warns Scar that he better have a good excuse for not attending the presentation of Simba for the king. Later, he is telling Mufasa the morning report, and is pounced on by Simba who was being coached by Mufasa on a pouncing lesson. When Simba and Nala agree to go the water hole, Sarabi instructs Zazu to accompany them to the "water hole" where they lose him during the song, "I Just Can't Wait to be King", but he finds them again at the Elephant Graveyard. During the encounter with the hyenas, he is captured by the hyenas to be exploded out of the birdie boiler. He reappears as Mufasa fights off the hyenas, implying that he must have warned the lion king about the cubs in danger, and is frowned down by Mufasa for not protecting the cubs. Later, Zazu is with Mufasa near the gorge and are alerted by Scar that a wildebeest stampede is occurring with Simba in danger. Zazu flies down to the gorge, and finds Simba hanging from the edge of a dead tree to which he tells Mufasa of. As he watches the stampede, he reacts in panic, and goes to look for help, but is struck by Scar into a wall and rendered unconscious. When Scar gives his eulogy to Mufasa and Simba, Zazu is shown comforting Sarabi. He also briefly appears in a scene after Scar has assumed the kingship of the Pride Lands. In this scene, Zazu is imprisoned and is being forced to entertain Scar by singing songs. First, he tries "It's a Small World," only for Scar to interrupt by saying "anything but that," to which Zazu sings "I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts." As Scar enjoys singing the latter, Zazu laments not having to do this for Mufasa, and Scar quickly interrogates him and warns him never to mention that name in his presence. When the hyenas come in to complain about the lack of food and water, Scar casually tells them to eat Zazu, and he frantically insists that he'd be "so tough and gamey and eyugh!" Later on, Simba returns to reclaim his throne. Simba, the lionesses, Timon, Pumbaa, and Rafiki battle the hyenas. Zazu pleads Timon to let him out of the ribcage he is imprisoned in, but Timon goes inside the ribcage instead as he is pursued by the hyenas. Pumbaa comes to the rescue and chases away the hyenas after Banzai accidentally insults him. Zazu is freed along with Timon, and he joins the battle. Finally, Zazu witnesses Simba's ascension to the throne and flies with white birds during the presentation of Simba and Nala's newborn cub. ''The Lion King II: Simba's Pride Zazu does not have a large role as he does in The Lion King, but is still seen throughout the movie giving news to Simba, mainly about where Kiara is. He is also the one who spots the Outsiders in the Pride Lands first and warns Simba. After witnessing Kiara's presentation, Zazu is next seen when Simba is lecturing Kiara that Zira and the Outsiders are "backstabbing murderers". Years later when Kiara is a full grown lioness, Zazu assures Simba that she will be fine until Simba notices a wildfire has started. Zazu is sent ahead by Simba to find Kiara, who had been out on her first solo hunt. When Zazu finds that Kiara is being rescued by Kovu, he reports the information back to Simba. After Kovu asks to join the pride, Zazu notes that royal law demands that debts (such as the one Simba owes Kovu for rescuing Kiara) must be repaid, though he is quite happy to make an exception. Later, after Simba is injured in an ambush by Zira and the Outsiders, he is sent by Kiara to find help. Finally, near the end of the film, he reacts in panic when reporting that the Outsiders are preparing to attack. While at the same time, Simba learns that Kiara has fled the Pride Lands to which Simba again sends him to find her. In the end, Zazu looks alongside Timon and Pumbaa during Kiara and Kovu's wedding to which Timon and Pumbaa start crying with happiness and Zazu covers himself from the wetness of their tears. ''The Lion King 1½'' Zazu's appearances are extremely brief in The Lion King 1½. He is first seen at the presentation of Simba, talking to Mufasa about how the animals are kneeling before Simba. He is then seen with Mufasa alerting him that the hyenas are after Simba and Nala.At the end He helps Timon And Pumbaa To Find His Dream Home ''The Lion King's Timon & Pumbaa'' Zazu appears as a main character in the series starring Timon and Pumbaa. Zazu appears in the episode "Once Upon a Timon" where he is researching the reasons that Timon became an outcast. He eventually learns the reasons from Rakifi, and the story becomes so engrossing, that Zazu forgets about a meeting with Simba."Zazu's Off Day Off" has Zazu being forced to work on his day off when an elephant is blocking flow of the river. "Zazu's Off-by-One Day" shows that Zazu is responsible for taking a census of the animals. However, he is fired by the jungle inspector when it's discovered that he missed one animal. As a result, his job is given to his gopher assistant. In an attempt to regain his job, Zazu searches for the animal he missed, only to discover that it was himself. He also makes two Cameos in the show as well his first cameo is in The Rafiki Fables episode The Sky is Calling after Pumbaa gets a big tall lump sticking out from accidentally banging his head several birds that look like Zazu can be seen flying round the lump Zazu's second cameo is in the episode Rumble in the Jungle where he makes several cameos as the Wrestling Judge during Timon and Pumbaa's wrestling matches against each other Zazu's job is to whack the bell with a hammer at the start of each and every match Other Appearances The Lion King (musical) as Zazu]] In the stage productions of ''The Lion King'', Zazu's role is slightly expanded. Zazu, like in the Platinum Edition version of the film, sings the song, "The Morning Report", before being pounced on by Simba. The musical version of the song is longer than its film counterpart. There is also a scene in which Zazu reminds Mufasa that he was just like Simba when he was a cub. In the musical, Zazu is a puppet controlled by an actor dressed in blue striped clothes and a bowler hat much like a stereotypical butler. Zazu's blue feathers have been replaced with white and the puppet is partially constructed from parachute silk with a slinky contained in the neck for ease in movement. Also, in certain English productions of the show, Zazu breaks the fourth wall. In the original Broadway production when, being blocked by curtains at the beginning of the "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" number, shouts out "This didn't happen in the movie!" or "These look like shower curtains from Target!" ''The Lion King: Simba's Mighty Adventure Zazu appears in every level notifying the player on their goals and marking the checkpoints after a certain amount of time. Kingdom Hearts II Curiously, while Zazu plays a supporting role in the films, he doesn't appear in the video game ''Kingdom Hearts II. with the other Lion King characters. In Donald's Bird form, Donald bears a vague resemblance to Zazu. Zazu does, however, appear in the Kingdom Hearts II manga. ''Disney Universe Zazu appears as a bonus unlockable costume character which can be unlocked in one of the ''Alice in Wonderland levels. But you he is only available in the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game as a dlc. You have to buy the game from Kmart, it comes with a code for Zazu. Strangely; although he is only available as a store exclusive dlc, he appears in the intro of the game alongside Simba in the Monsters Inc ''world opening a door for another guest, and then later seen running away when HEX takes over the Disney Universe. Trivia *Zazu's name is misspelled during the end credits of ''The Lion King 1½ as "Zasu". *Zazu's line of "There's one in every family sire...two in mine actually" could be a nod to Nazu and Babazu, two deleted hornbills who were possibly related to him. *Zazu was to have a mate named Binti in The Lion King II, but her character was deleted. *When Simba descends after defeating Scar, Zazu is seen moving his lips, but the audio is never heard. He was supposed to say, "Your Majesty". This mistake was intentional according to Mouse Under Glass, as the filmmakers wanted the scene to be a quiet moment. *Zazu bears several similarities to the character of Sebastian from The Little Mermaid. Both are a relatively minuscule animal serving as an aide to a king. Both, though well-meaning, are highly deferential to rules and protocols. Both are pressed into service as a guardian to the king's adventurous offspring. Both attempt (unsuccessfully) to keep the curious protagonists from running off to someplace forbidden, thereby breaking their father's rules. Songs *The Morning Report (TLK special edition) *I Just Can't Wait to be King *It's a Small World *I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts All Voice Actors *The Lion King - (1994) - (film) - Rowan Atkinson (speaking and singing), Jeff Bennett - ("The Morning Report") *The Lion King's Timon & Pumbaa' - '(1995) - (TV series) - Michael Gough *The Lion King (musical)' - '(1997) - (musical) - Geoff Hoyle (speaking and singing) *The Lion King II: Simba's Pride - (1998) - (film) - Edward Hibbert *The Lion King 1½ - (2004) - (film) - Edward Hibbert Gallery See Here : Category:Characters Category:Red-billed Hornbills Category:Male Characters Category:Protagonists Category:Pridelanders Category:Movie Characters Category:Official Characters Category:Canon Characters Category:Battle of Pride Rock participants